[rant]

I have to vent about this a little.

So, I have this spinster aunt. I have lunch with her every once in a while and ensure things are OK around the house. She is about 60 years old and recently retired. She does not own a computer (thank you Jesus)

Well, she decided she needed a DVD player. So, being the great nephew I am said I would help her shop for one and set it up. I show up at her house to start my initial inspection of her audio/visual setup. When is the last time you guys saw a TV with only a coax input. Been a while for me. I think her VCR is older than God and the latest and greatest is the decoder for her satellite dish.

As I'm looking at it and trying to explain how it's setup, she says something to the affect of 'Just let the guys from the store do it.' Now, my aunt is a headstrong lady and I know better than to pick a fight with her. So, I'm like 'Well, I could rig this up, but they can deal with this if you want'. Honestly, whoever set it up for her had wires in there that weren't needed. Which is surprising considering the simplicity of it all.

Anyway, this is going to get long, so here is the short version...

We go to the store she wants to (not the best/cheapest in town), salesman show her TVs she doesn't want to spend the money on...she fucking asked to see them after she told me she didn't want a new TV ...we end up with only a new DVD/VCR unit.

Get it home, I set it up and the picture is fucked up. She starts to flip as usual. I rip some useless wires out and things are perfect.

Here is the point of the rant...why can't some people over 60 grasp simple concepts. I just spent 15 minutes on the phone with my aunt trying to explain why she doesn't need to rewind a fucking DVD.

I shit you not!

She didn't know how to eject the fucking DVD, how to rewind the DVD, how to fast forward the DVD. AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Keep in mind I did this earlier this afternoon after I set things up. I probably spent 30 minutes function checking satellite/DVD/VHS  and explaining the basics of the remote control to her.

I should have paid the guys at the store the $68 they wanted. They would have earned their money.

[/vent]

I hate to talk about my own blood like this, but I needed to vent. If I had recorded this phone call, you wouldn't have believed it.

How old are you?

Just be glad you weren't the poor sod who had to explain the VCR to her the first time.

And in 40 years when you are ranting about that damned teleporter that keeps sending you to the Mars colony when all you want is to go to the moon, your great nephew will be bitching about how inept you are with modern technology.

There are plenty of people WAY under 60 who are just as bad...

People don't challenge themselves technically.  They would be amazed what they could do, but they won't try.  

Thats why theres a manual, first off.

Second, having patience and treating your elders with respect goes a long way towards improving your own karma.

I would have explained the functions before I left her house. You have only yourself to blame here.

I have had to deal with this several times, WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN ON A PIECE OF PAPER, USE BIG LETTERS. Problem solved!

Quoted: There are plenty of people WAY under 60 who are just as bad...

+1

It's a mindset thing, not a physical age.

There are dumbfuck teenagers that grew up with tech that are clueless about anything more than which button to push (and that's being kind).

There are people WAAAY older than me that know this shit inside and out.

I noticed it with my parents before they passed away.  My dad retired just about the time the "computer revolution" was starting.  Hadn't a CLUE about them.  He asked me one day to explain what was so great about computers so I took an example he was familiar with, inventory tracking.  I wrote a brain dead simple BASIC program on my Commodore that tracked a couple of items and adjusted availability based on user input.

You should have seen his eyes light up when it clicked for him, but he dismissed any idea of him grasping or using the tech, he was "too dumb" (his words) for it.  

They never progressed beyond a 2 head VCR connected to a tube TV with coax and a couple of RatShack touchtone phones (to supplement the leased Bell 500 rotary that mom REFUSED to part with) those and a full sized VHS camcorder were as far into the age of tech that they got.  Oh, and a cheap one piece stereo that they dubbed LP's to cassette tape for the car.

Cell phones, computers, email, the Internet, GPS never showed up on their radar.

Watching them age I discovered that there was a point where they simply didn't understand (and had no interest in understanding) the way the world worked any more.  THAT's the point at which (IMHO) you start to go down hill.  It doesn't mean you have to participate or even like the changes, but when you simply stop being aware of them, you lose connection to what's going on around you.  I saw that happen to my parents and it was frustrating as hell.  They became trapped in a stasis field and felt that anything that didn't mesh with their frozen existence was wrong and should change, not them.

Sorry for the swerve, just touched a nerve.  

I taught my 80 and 86 year old, respectively, grandmother and grandfather how to operate their cell phones. Do it like this:

This is the CALL button. Watch me and then you will do it. [Call]. Now you do it. Repeat with each function.

edit: It will take you all night, but you get all the free lemon pie you want.

I agree that it depends on the individual and not the age....my mom is 67...and she is one of those who you would say....O.K. ...maybe she’s 60. Loves to be out and about traveling the world. Now my sister on the other hand.......she so dam challenged...she has to lay down for an hour after flying only 3hrs. And with her.....the list goes on. Some people will always just be that way...I love her....but dam..I avoid her at all costs.

Quoted: And in 40 years when you are ranting about that damned teleporter that keeps sending you to the Mars colony when all you want is to go to the moon, your great nephew will be bitching about how inept you are with modern technology.

Reminds me of this:

all old people are like that.
setting up my  grandmother's DVD was hell. She still can't understand the concept of pressing the VCR button on the remote to use the VCR and the DVD button to switch back to the DVD.
Don't even get me started with old people trying to use their debit card at Walmart.

Quoted: Thats why theres a manual, first off. Second, having patience and treating your elders with respect goes a long way towards improving your own karma. I would have explained the functions before I left her house. You have only yourself to blame here.

Shadup Codger!

As someone that is probably about your age plus your aunt's age, it has nothing to do with age.  I know a lot of guys over 70 that do just fine on the Internet and have since before many of the people here were born.  I've used the Internet for 20 years and have been programming for 35.  It has nothing to do with age.  It has to do with laziness.  I've hired one 22-35 year-old programmer after another that couldn't make a single thing work.  They're closed minded and are too lazy to spend even 30 seconds to learn how to do something.

A great example is a customer of ours.  He's almost 50 and sells and installs high-end car stereos.  The older customers in his shop all know what they want and are usually a pleasure to deal with.  It's the moron 15-25 year-olds that make his life hell.  They're too lazy to learn simple concepts like how a crossover works, how to use a fuse, or how to properly ground an amp so they have constant trouble with their equipment.  Nine times out of ten when he sells something to a 20 year-old, the kid will be back in less than a month to whine because "it just quit."  He is almost to the point where he won't sell something to someone under 25 unless its a referral.  The kids are just too lazy and close-minded to keep a nice stereo working.z

My father. Brilliant man. Law degree, JAG in the military, more degrees than any three people I know combined. If I handed him a slide rule and a roll of duct tape, I'm sure he could design and build a space-worthy craft capeable of taking human life to the moon and back. (I'd have to ask some friends about the propulsion bit, but the rest of it, he could do)


The utter concept, let alone execution thereof, of an ATM card completly flummoxes him. To this day he does not have one, and asks me how the hell I manage to get money out of a machine without a person there to verify things, or check a signature, or whatever.


I spent YEARS getting my parents to figure out the whole "when you click the print button, YOU NEED A PRINTER CONNECTED before it'll spit out a sheet of paper", not to mention the whole "Just because you see it on AOL, doesn't mean it'll still be there the next time you turn on your computer; you DO need to be connected to the internet to see it all" thing.


See, now, the worst part is, I see myself doing this when I get a little older, too. I'm already doing it with certain things.

Quoted: [rant] I have to vent about this a little. So, I have this spinster aunt. I have lunch with her every once in a while and ensure things are OK around the house. She is about 60 years old and recently retired. She does not own a computer (thank you Jesus) Well, she decided she needed a DVD player. So, being the great nephew I am said I would help her shop for one and set it up. I show up at her house to start my initial inspection of her audio/visual setup. When is the last time you guys saw a TV with only a coax input. Been a while for me. I think her VCR is older than God and the latest and greatest is the decoder for her satellite dish. <snip>

Yesterday.

Sonny, ever seen one with just 2 screwheads?

Danny

I think my family is retarded

You are correct....think about it

The rewind ritual is tough to abandon.  I still feel weird not rewinding after watching a DVD.

You might be the perfect person to help This Guy.  

Quoted: And in 40 years when you are ranting about that damned teleporter that keeps sending you to the Mars colony when all you want is to go to the moon, your great nephew will be bitching about how inept you are with modern technology.

Quoted: The rewind ritual is tough to abandon.  I still feel weird not rewinding after watching a DVD.

Same here.

Danny

Quoted: Quoted: [rant] I have to vent about this a little. So, I have this spinster aunt. I have lunch with her every once in a while and ensure things are OK around the house. She is about 60 years old and recently retired. She does not own a computer (thank you Jesus) Well, she decided she needed a DVD player. So, being the great nephew I am said I would help her shop for one and set it up. I show up at her house to start my initial inspection of her audio/visual setup. When is the last time you guys saw a TV with only a coax input. Been a while for me. I think her VCR is older than God and the latest and greatest is the decoder for her satellite dish. <snip> Yesterday. Sonny, ever seen one with just 2 screwheads? Danny

Yes.  I've even watched a real black-and-white TV.

C'mon over here young feller,and see if you can tune a carb or gap a set of points.
Show some respect for your elders,especially kin.
Otherwise,you're a PUNK!

As I've said before,before you cuss the old man who is a Walmart door greeter,or is moving too slow and holding you up,stop and consider that 60+ years ago,maybe he was in his prime,fighting for YOUR future,or watching his buddies' lives bleed out on the beach half a world away.

Something to think about.

Good stuff gents. You made me chuckle as always.

How old are you?

34.

And in 40 years when you are ranting about that damned teleporter that keeps sending you to the Mars colony when all you want is to go to the moon, your great nephew will be bitching about how inept you are with modern technology.

Probably. But it's my time to bitch.

Second, having patience and treating your elders with respect goes a long way towards improving your own karma. I would have explained the functions before I left her house. You have only yourself to blame here.

Excellent point Gonzo. I always respect my elders. Why do you think I am here bitching instead of taking it out on my family . I did explain all needed functions before I left the house. I thought I was G2G.

It's a mindset thing, not a physical age.

I agree with this. I have a bud who is 61, uses a satellite online connection, and plays online poker. The only problems he has is related to his POS satellite, and that isn't his fault.

setting up my grandmother's DVD was hell. She still can't understand the concept of pressing the VCR button on the remote to use the VCR and the DVD button to switch back to the DVD.

Yup, dealt with that. The best is when it came to the clock. I was praying to every diety in the universe (and I'm not a religious man) that it has auto synch on it. It does.

See, now, the worst part is, I see myself doing this when I get a little older, too. I'm already doing it with certain things.

Well, I can see it happening with me. I don't watch much TV anymore. My system is 'old' by current standards (which means I haven't bought a new piece for it in a few years). What happens when I really give up and I'm watching the same TV in 30 years?

Sonny, ever seen one with just 2 screwheads?

Been a while friend.

I think my family is retarded

You know that is spread genetically, right?  

Quoted: Here is the point of the rant...why can't some people over 60 grasp simple concepts. I just spent 15 minutes on the phone with my aunt trying to explain why she doesn't need to rewind a fucking DVD.

What do you mean you don't have to rewind DVDs?

Shit dude my mother is 84 and has had a cellphone (on 3rd now) for 4 yrs. I still can't get across to her that you have to push OK or Select to get where you want to go. Switched my phone when she got hers and got the same exact set-up to make things easier. Spent 2 1/2 hrs on the phone trying to help her pair the bluetooth headset to the phone going thru the instructions step by step.  Could have drove there, done it and been home in less time.

If that's the worst you've seen so far just wait, it gets better.